Raglan

After MOTAT, we drove on south of Auckland and eventually west and back to the Tasman coast and, after a night at the Onewhere Rugby Club freedom camp, the town of Raglan. Raglan was one of New Zealand's earliest European settlements, but is best known now for its surfing and appearance in the classic Endless Summer. Surfers and surfboards still abound as well as much of the world's tie dye inventory and other 60s paraphrenalia. The vibe is friendly and small town. We explored on foot until the rain forced us back to the camper and on down the road to Whale (?) Bay to watch people surfing in the rain.

Among the older buildings, the Harbor View Hotel

A few instances of art deco

Some very big old trees

Commemorating the first Methodist missionaries to arrive...1830's...
possibly first use of the expression "missionary position" in the 
South Seas

More really big old trees

Fun on the harbor

More Cooke Island Pines

Main drag

Now on the Bay, watching surfers, mostly waiting, not surfing

Looking out upon the Tasman Sea

And on to Ruapuke Beach and the "motor camp" there